Preformed walls with decorative brick façades are used in commercial and residential construction. In some commercial applications a concrete wall is poured on or off site and the decorative bricks are laid adjacent to the wall to provide a decorative appearance. In some residential applications a decorative brick fascia is attached to an existing wall surface (e.g., concrete or wood framing). In both instances, it is a labor and time intensive process to first construct the wall and then apply the decorative fascia. In the case of laying bricks along a concrete or wood framed wall a skilled mason is needed to properly lay, level and mortar the bricks to provide a consistent appealing façade.
In another example, pallets of bricks are brought to a work site where concrete walls are constructed. The bricks are unloaded from the pallets and individually placed by laborers within durable rubber mats. The bricks are positioned within the rubber mats and let partially exposed. Concrete is then poured over the bricks and the rubber mats to form a concrete wall with the decorative bricks contained therein. After the wall is rotated into a substantially vertical position, laborers pry the rubber mat off of the concrete wall and the bricks remain retained in the wall. The rubber mats are often destroyed in the process as the concrete and bricks adhere the mats to the wall and additional cost is incurred to replace the rubber mats for additional wall construction. This adhesion happens in part because the liquid concrete bleeds by the joints between the rubber mat and the sides of the bricks. The bled concrete subsequently hardens and forms an anchor that holds the mat to the wall. To address this problem the mats and/or bricks are repeatedly coated with non-stick materials (lubricants, waxes and the like) to minimize such adhesion. The process for forming these walls is labor intensive because each brick is individually positioned within the rubber mat, and to lessen destruction of the rubber mat the mat and/or bricks must be treated with materials to minimize adhesion between the wall and the mat. The remnants of these treating materials must then be scrubbed or washed off of the completed wall. Alternatively, more time is needed during removal of the mat from the wall to physically pry the mat from the wall. Further work is needed to remove any concrete that has bled over the bricks during the pouring process, for instance by brushing, power washing and the like.
Because of these issues the present methods for forming decorative brick façade walls are expensive and labor intensive.